Okay, I admit that I'm a fan of the Darwin Awards. For example, there is the recent story of the priest who decided to retest the outcome of a previous Darwin Award winner (Larry Walters, 1982) by floating off while strapped to a seat attached to hundreds of helium party balloons. The story of course didn't end well as they've since found the remnants of the balloons...but no priest. Priceless. Which brings me to today's topic -- a real need to have our very own Knowledge Management Darwin Awards! Except that as "Darwin Awards" is claimed as a trademark, I propose that we call ours the "Knowledge Management Duh!" awards which is a slight play off of an abbreviation of Darwin Awards -- "DA" except that "DA" just...well, it didn't quite fit and I was worried that someone might actually miss the point and try to model this story as a best practice. 'Cause it sure isn't. And for our very first nominee, I'd like to present...hmmm...quandary -- we have to be careful about using company names on here, and I'd sure hate to do anything to further their embarrassment as they've done a really great job of it on their own. So let's just call them...the "Big Box Store." It seems that in March 2007 "Big Box Store" decided to terminate more than 3,400 of their highest paid employees. Big Box Store was under tremendous pressure to reduce operating costs and an internal study indicated that the Big Box Store's customers no longer needed the expertise held by its most highly paid employees. This was based on the belief that its customers no longer needed an employee to "hold their hand" to compare the features of something like...oh, for example, a digital camera...or to answer whether one model could be used with a Macintosh or not. It seemed that Big Box Store determined that its customers were much more likely to have already done that research prior to passing through the doors of Big Box Store so they no longer needed those senior, highly paid employees...or their knowledge. But wait...it gets better! (not) As these same employees were being terminated they were told that they were free to reapply for their jobs in 10 weeks. At salaries which in some cases were reported to be half what they had been prior. But wait...it gets better! (not) The immediate benefit to Big Box Store of these cost-cutting terminations was a slight bump in their stock -- just less than $0.30 per share. And in April 2007 the Big Box Store stock price per share was reported to be at $19.23. But wait...it gets better! (not) Unfortunately for Big Box Store what they apparently hadn't counted upon was that these now unemployed former-employees, with significant knowledge of not only how to sell to high-tech customers but also of how Big Box Store operates, would then be seen as valuable to the competitors of Big Box Store. And so although Big Box Store apparently missed understanding how their highly knowledgeable employees had actually played a positive role in helping customers make sense out of confusing features and marketing hype that tends to make your head hurt -- it would seem that their competitor didn't. Those employees actually used a little something that we around here like to call -- "knowledge" (yes, you are free to use the fingers-in-the-air-quote-marks again for this one) to help make the sale. And they're now using that "knowledge" in their new positions working for Big Box Store's competitor. But wait...it gets better! (not) By November 2007 Big Box Store had seen its stock price tumble to about $5.00 per share, while their competitors...well, they seem to be doing just fine. Just to make sure the point hits home...that's a drop from $19.23 per share to less than $5.00 per share in just seven months. But wait...it gets better! (not) Which brings me to my weekend shopping. Hoping you haven't missed it, but in the U.S. last Sunday was Mother's Day. And I took my wife on down to the Big Box Store to pick up a new memory card for her digital camera. I went there thinking that all I needed was the memory card...a quick in-and-out kind of thing. And so I'm standing there at the register in the camera area waiting while the sales clerk is ringing up another customer's purchase for a new digital camera. And I watch first the sales clerk, and then her supervisor try to strong-arm the customer into getting an "extended warranty" (yes, finger quote mark time again) that he didn't want. And then the supervisor looked at the "pile of stuff" that the customer was about to purchase...camera (check), case (check), extra battery (check), memory card (oh-oh!). Yes, the memory card was suddenly a problem. It seems that according to the supervisor, the customer had selected the wrong type of memory card for the camera and he was about to launch off to go get the right kind. And to be clear, we're not talking about a different brand or capacity. We're talking about the customer having picked out a SDHC card and the supervisor saying that the camera needed a Compact Flash (CF). Two totally different beasts. And no, the camera didn't accept either of them, only the SDHC (or of course, an SD). So feeling like I couldn't stand to watch the start of what I was sure would be the train wreck that would come after the customer got home and tried to use the camera only to find that he'd purchased the wrong memory card (at the insistence of the supervisor)....I offered that the camera did in fact need the SDHC card. The supervisor stopped dead in his tracks. Like a deer in headlights. Not knowing which way to go. He glanced between the customer and me, finally asking, "Are you sure about that?" To which I replied, "Yes. Positive. You're thinking about the previous model, which does use Compact Flash. But this model doesn't." Blink. Blink. Okay -- time for the face saving attempt (and you know how those often turn out, right?). The supervisor then says, "Wait, what model is this?" And he picks up the box -- glances at it and says, "Oh yeah. I got this confused with the new model which uses Compact Flash. This is the older model." The customer now has this look of pure angst on his face and I could just hear his thoughs as he was now worried that he was about to buy the wrong camera (or more likely that he was in the "wrong" store). So, back into the fray I go. "No, this is the new camera. It was just released maybe a week or two ago. It's a 12 megapixel camera. The one that you're thinking of was the 8 megapixels. And it takes Compact Flash. This new model takes SDHC." And pointing to the side of the box I added, "See, it says so right here." But wait...it gets better! (not) The customer then turns to the supervisor and says, "A minute ago you were telling me how with this camera I really needed the extended warranty. But now I find out that you really don't know anything about this camera and you were perfectly happy to sell me the wrong memory card." And the customer turned around and walked out, leaving what was to be purchased sitting there on the counter. I followed him out the door, and instead bought the card at Big Box Store's competitor just one block down the street. But wait...it gets better! (not) You see, there is another company out there...oh, let's call them..."They Used to Be a Thing"...and this other company wants to buy Big Box Store. It would seem that the general idea is that you take one outdated retail concept and shore that up with another retail store that seems to be extremely clueless...and they believe that they would somehow "produce a profitable and viable company." And "They Used to Be a Thing" said in a press release (just in case you hadn't yet figured out who "Big Box Store" is, this will help) on May 9th that "We continue to believe this combination would create significant cost and operating synergies therefore unlocking substantial value for our shareholders." Yeah, right. And on that same day, which was this past Friday and just two days before Mother's Day, billionair activist investor Carl Icahn was given permission by Big Box Store to review its books. Seems now folks on all sides of the table are thinking that since Mr. Icahn is now actively involved...that the sale will be a sure thing. Carl Icahn has been called the "shrewdest investor on the planet" by Fortune magazine. And I'd expect that he's got rooms full of financial advisors. And I have no clue as to whether he reads my blog (but would certainly appreciate a trackback if you're reading this Carl!). But it does cause me to wonder whether if despite his obvious business accumen and clear understanding of tangible value....whether he knows much about knowledge management and intangible value. Mr. Icahn -- if you're reading this, yes, I am available as a consultant. But wait...it gets better! (not) And today, at the opening bell at the NY Stock Exchange....slightly more than one year after Big Box Store shot itself in the foot for pushing its knowledge out the door and down the street to its competitor....the opening price on Big Box Store's stock was....$5.09 per share. As for its competitor, according to The New York Post, their competitor has been staffing its stores with specially trained sales clerks (hey, I w-o-n-d-e-r where they got those from!) and competitor's "third-quarter profit soared 52 percent."

Dr. Dan's Daily Dose: Failure to recognize the value of your employee's knowledge is a failure to understand the one and only thing which makes your organization truly unique. And viewing knowledgeable employees as a "financial burden" means that you'll totally miss the mark in understanding that in today's business environment viewing those same employees as an "asset" is critical, and so is the need to continue to "invest" in that knowledge by retaining critical knowledge.